Eating and poo question

[SeriousPooBrain]

So, this is probably an odd question and I'll feel silly later for asking, but I have to know.

So last week I attempted to feed my corn a fuzzy. It didn't go well. He got about a third of the way in and couldn't seem to swallow it anymore and was struggling so I chopped it up and let him eat the chunks. I decided to go to back to pinkies today and he immediately latched on, but I found something odd. While he was swallowing it, he put his head up in the air and then put his head all the way backwards (if he would have relaxed, his head would have been upside down along his back). After he had finished he righted himself and started slithering around his box. He's been fairly active, no signs of illness, good appetite. Should I be concerned? I'm not sure if the contortion swallowing is a symptom of a possible health problem later on.

I took him from a coworker so I have no idea about his previous medical history, and I assume she got him from a store since he came with a Petco transport box.

Also, I clean the cage completely of substrate every week, but I haven't seen any poo. It is possible I am scooping it out without noticing since I have aspen bedding. Would paper towels be an okay substrate so I can see if his poos are okay? I just want to make sure he's healthy D:

 

[Nanci]

Did you look in the corners, under everything? The poop is very small to begin with.

Snakes, especially young ones, do all kinds of contortions to use gravity to get the prey down. I don't know, but by observation, they don't seem to have much, if any, esophageal motility. They "walk" their jaws alternately forward, to get it started, then use body position, and then the S curve of their spine, to force the prey down.